How did the metro interface get in the way? With Windows 8.1.1, desktop stays in desktop. Did your wife only ever use 8.0? (if so that would explain a lot).

I find Win8.1.1 to be quite functional, usable, stable, and productive. I freely admit that 8.0 was kind of annoying unless you wanted to spend a fair amount of time tweaking and climbing a learning curve. But Win8.1.1 (without any Start8 crutches required) works pretty well.

Thinner... lighter... better screen... impressive touch and pen support... and a full PC... tons of innovation, and listening to feedback and acting on it in a very timely manner. Yeah, Microsoft, just cut that out (rolling eyes).

OSX has no touch screen, no touch capabilities at all, and no direct pen-on-screen support either. For artists that want to sketch on the go, or for students who want to take notes in classes like math where hand-writing is far superior to keyboard, the Mac Air just isn't nearly as good as the SP3. SP3 is lighter and thinner with extra capabilities, and costs about the same. The main drawbacks are the "lapability" (ugh) and keyboard quality... Air definitely wins there. I'd say a writer/blogger would be better off with an Air. But there are definitely niches where the SP3 is just a no-brainer... a great device.

Obviously. (rolling eyes)

You apparently don't get how DST/ST works, do you?

I still don't know why everyone attacks DST.

It's "Standard Time" that sucks. It gets light too early and dark too early.

If we just stay on DST year-round, and call THAT "standard time" (or, just "time"), that'd be fine, but I bristle at the suggestion we should be on standard time year-round. Ugh. I'd hate that immensely.

Of course I don't get paid anything to post here, and I didn't post any lies. Stop being an ignorant knee-jerk MS-bashing troll for two seconds.

Neither stupid nor ignorant. If you don't think Android is a "me-too" copy of iOS, your'e the ignorant/stupid one. It's the same philosophy.

WP8 is not only a different take, it IS good. In many ways it is/was better (both iOS and Android have copied features/abilities that first appeared in WP7 and now WP8). You speak like somone with absolutely no experience with either platform (you've just heard some bashing, and have chosen to go along with that, because your hatred of MS trumps all other considerations).

Surface/Win8/WP8 all show innovation. For you to ask "What innovation ahs come out of MS" shows extreme ignorance or willfully stupidity on your part, imho.

But that doesn't make sense. There are 3rd party YouTube video apps in the WP8 and Windows8 stores... Google isn't going to get ad revenue from those.

It's stated refusal to create any apps for either platform seems more petulant than anything to me.

I just don't see myself buying into anyone's Walled Garden much less the MS version.

And that's fine if that's your choice. I'm talking about the hardware, and that the OS itself doesn't suck at all.

And I have a free copy of Visual Studio for Windows Phone, and can side load any app I want to develop myself (and I do). So it's not *entirely* walled garden from my perspective.

But my point was that nothing "ruined Nokia". It's good, solid hardware, with a decent OS, that deserves to catch on at least as much as iOS, and that 3-way competition in this space is a Good Thing(tm).

I just think you (and others, including the original parent I originally replied to) are being a bit unfair to Nokia and WP8. If WP8 doesn't meet your needs/wants/desires, that's fine. But it's not "crap" any more than iOS or Android is. And the N9 running Meego might be awesome, but it simply doesn't have a future (I doubt Meego would have competed all that well in a full 4-way race, any more than Palm Pre did... even if HP didn't grossly mishandle it... hell WP8 is going to have a serious struggle at this point). And a Linux Phone might be popular in this forum, but I can't really imagine it being any more than a niche player in the greater consumer world.

So, ... I could run Office on it? *cough*

It's not bullshit really. Yeah, there are screens with a higher pixel count, but that's not the end-all, be-all of screen. This one can be used with gloves, and has an amazing refresh rate, and really bold colors, as well as having a higher pixel-density than the iPhone 4/4s's retina screen.

And I'm not just shilling. I'm giving my honest opinion as a user of both the iPhone 4, and now the Nokia 920. I cannot speak for other phones.

Take your meds. Seriously.

It was an on-topic reply to the parent, about my personal experience with Nokia phones. There's nothign "astroturf" about it. And *I'm* not the troll in this scenario, you are.

Grow up.

Not an ad. Jesus Christ, it's relevant (not off topic, it's about Nokia and a direct response to the parent), and just an honest assessment of the phone I bought.

...but let's be honest: They're behaving better than Google and Apple these days. Google left the "Don't Be Evil" philosophy behind quite a while ago. Apple is coasting. MS is innovating, regardless of what you actually think of their products.

Personally, I'd rather there be a good 3-way race/competition, with everyone pushing everyone else. If it's an iOS/Android duopoly, it'll be kind of boring, since once is basically a copy of the other. At least WP8 dares to be different.